I have an 07 Vantage V8 and read some old posts here on brake pads. Just after some info on good choices for aftermarket options - prefer ceramic or any tip to reduce carbon dust if using regular pads.

 

That reminds me I have to order pads and rotors. Just placed an order for Porterfield R4-S pads and Wilwood rotors from Redpants.LOL. Thanks, Rich.

 

i actually have quite a bit of experience with pads and rotors from my previous ownership of an 6.1L SRT that wasn't tracked.

the SRT used the same brembo braking system and looks to be the same pad compound. after trying a couple different pad combinations i can say that
the Hawk HPS PLUS (not the HPS 5.0), is about as hard core track pad as you're gonna get. but be warned that the HPS PLUS sounds like a freight train. i am not even sure if they make the PLUS version for the aston. but that pad engrained in me so vividly. if you've ever stopped at the rail way crossing and see a train slamming to a halt, that's what those pads sound like. they sound like freight train crossing. but they do stop like a brick wall. so i do believe when Redpants say the R4 are track only, they're TRACK ONLY. if they sound as loud as the HPS PLUS, everyone on the street will hate you. everyone and their grandmother will stare at you but not for a good reason. those track pads are just not meant for the street period. i quickly swapped them back to ceramic pads after.

Redpants, what compound are those R4-S?

one thing i do have to say tho, a lot of the noise issues has to do with compound being used more so than the bevel, in my experience. the beveling do help, but if you have a track based compound, no beveling or shim is going to quiet that down.

i am actually inclined to switch to ceramic pads when my OE is up eventually. but Ceramic tend to eat up the rotors faster. i just think paying for OE pad price is ridiculous. after a couple rounds you start to ask yourself why you're still doing it. and the Ceramic pads, before anyone say it's not as powerful as OE stopping power, trust me, if you're just driving on the street, you won't notice any difference. at least i didn't notice any difference. you would have to be tracking the car to notice any clear difference.

 

have you noticed any wear pattern on the rotor between all those pads? does the HPS 5.0 wear faster or slower compare to OE, or does the R4-S wear out the rotor any faster or slower?

also i noticed on your website, you have an upgraded rotor. do you also sell OE rotor? i believe OE rotor shouldn't be that expensive compare to pads.

 

The R4-S [thanks Rich] will save your sanity. Those OEM pads create so much dust it's ridiculous, the squeal I could handle, the dust I couldn't. And it starts to eat into the clear on the rims fast so if you let it go a couple weeks you'd have to spend an extra hour trying to get all the dust specs off after you got the bulk of the dust off. I'm not shy with the brakes and they stop plenty fast, though I'm not sure if I'd want to push max speed into turn 1 standing on them.

 

I have been selling the Porterfield R4-S Pads for nearly 10 years for the Astons. Not once have we had a complaint about them. They are SUPER low dust.


Not the right pad for serious track use but for a road driven car with some spirited driving.



www.velocityap.com/Aston-Vantage-DB9-Brake-Pads-Low-Dust-Porterfield-p/vel-aston-martin-pf-rear.htm


http://www.velocityap.com/Aston-Vant...n-pf-front.htm

 

I recently changed front rotors...stayed stock AM type but used Brembo HP2000 brakes all around.

The brake sensors do not work on these pads...so just wire tie off or take off if you want to go back to stock type pads... No big deal.

Low dust grab and hold really well...I would have used Rich's Hawks as my son had hawks on his cars before and liked but decided since Brembo made our brakes I wanted to see if decent pads too.

While low dust...the break in is longer then a few miles...needed around 5-6 hundred for decent bedding. We did need to apply anti squeak on front pads twice...I guess new rotors and pads needed more attention. The backs never cried once...lol

Overall most owners will be thrilled with the porterfields for everyday...or the Hawks.

I have a little over 2500 miles on the Brembo hp2000 so far

 

I have tried the R4s pads on several of my other cars and find they are ok street pads and are low dust but if you take your car on an occasional track day they really are poor performers.(when I changed my evora from the stock Ferodo d2500 to r4s my lap time increased on average of 1.2 seconds on a 120 second track when I went to Ferodo's full race D1.11 pad I went down another half second or 1.8 seconds faster than the R4s pads) On the track the r4s lack any initial bite and begin fading fast with aggressive use.
I recently was able to get a set of Ferodo d2500 pads for my 12 v8v and was much happier with the performance on the track and was happily surprised with the low dust production.
The only down side was they don't accept the front wear sensors.

 

I purchased the R4S pads from Stuart when my 2014 Vantage was new.
Great seller and great very low dust pads.

 

As I used Ferodo's a lot on other cars (like both 2500 and 1.11 and will try DS UNO on my track car next),
I'd be interessted to hear about how the Ferodo DS2500 works with the stock V8V brake rotors.
New brakes will be on order end of the year...
I guess your 12 V8V still has the 355mm 4 piston Brembos as my 07 V8V?

Or does anybody have experience / back to back comparison between Ferodo DS2500 and Hawk HPS 5.0?

Thomas

 

One of the 2012 revisions was the change to 385mm 6 pistons in front. That doesn't mean they don't make a 355mm version, I'd also be interested if they did have a more aggressive bite with [hopefully] very low dust. But if the dust is much more than the R4 I prefer the low dust

 

I have the sport pack so it has the larger 6 pot calipers which turn out to be the same pad/rotor disc as the Nissan GTR. Of course there were no clean cross reference listing but Ken at KNS brakes had me send him a tracing of the pad along with pics and he was able to find the cross ref. Actually the first set of pads he sent me were for the 4 pot calipers which was the only listing they had for the 2012 non-s vantage so I'm sure they make them. Though I never had the r4s on my aston I've had them on my Evora and the ferodo ds2500 had notably less dust than even the r4s. As far has the hawk HPS I've had them on another car along with the r4s and R4i the HPS and the R4s are indistinguishable in regards to performance a smooth pad but lacking initial bite and fade quickly when pushed. The R4i was a very dusty aggressive pad with a ravenous appetite for rotors.
The R4 is also a good pad but if you don't get it up to temp you'll go through rotors faster than pads

 

I have 2013 V8 Vantage with sports pack that 6 pot calipers, bigger rotors( I belive 355MM) -Do you what year nissan GTR brakes matches to my car?

 

If you have the 6pot calipers the fronts are 380mm ( vantage S, vantage sports pack and DB9 used these) I believe the brakes are the same as the 09-11 GTR. I'll get the part numbers of the ferrodo's that I'm using for cross reference and post it tomorrow. Though your best bet is to talk to a good brake guy who knows better than I like Rich (redpants) or Ken at KNS